Viñas Leizaola
ETIENNE CORDONNIER LEIZAOLA
Viñas Leizaola invested in El Sacramento in March 2011. Leizaola is the owner’s – Etienne Cordonnier – mother’s maiden name and hails from the northern part of the Basque Country. Etienne’s initiative is two-fold: to revisit his family roots on his mothers’ side and to offer a wine that lives up to the family’s history of brokering fine wines into the sophisticated Belgian market for three generations on his father’s side.
The place
The terroir’s magic operates high on a promontory near the medieval village of Laguardia.
RIOJA ALAVESA
Rioja Alavesa is a stunning region where quality wines – nature’s very own expression – have been elaborated for centuries.
TEMPRANILLO
This indigenous grape variety, well-suited to the soils’ complexity, brings elegance to our wines.
EL SACRAMENTO
Ancient scripts on Laguardia mention that the Brotherhood of the Santísimo Sacramento cultivated a vineyard called El Sacramento, where they produced wine as early as the mid-17th century. The name El Sacramento was supposedly assigned to a plot of land, the very first that Viñas Leizaola bought and which still carries this name today.
SELECTION
We carefully thin the vine stalks during the entire growth cycle to ensure a balanced crop-load. During the harvest, the bunches are manually selected and individual grapes are then mechanically selected.
CHÂTEAU-STYLE
Our 22 hectares compose a mosaic around the winery. We cultivate and vinify on a plot-by-plot basis as we endeavor to reveal the terroir’s full identity.
TERROIR
Our idea of terroir is rooted in the subtle combination of three fundamental elements: the soil, the climate, and man’s work.
OUR TEAM
The Earth reveals itself through the wine. Man serves this natural process; his work has to represent it.
Etienne Cordonnier
OWNER
Jesús Velilla
VINEYARD MANAGEMENT
Begoña Royo
ELABORATION
Alin Veres · Elena Velilla
FIELD LABORERS
THE LAND
Rioja Alavesa is located at a climatic frontier which is favorable for producing fine wines. The patchwork of different plots of land, all with diverse geological characteristics, adds to this complexity. We strive to convey all this in our wines.
Finca El Sacramento is located on a geological break. The clay and limestone soils are rich in organic matter with a remarkable mineral balance and a natural capacity to regulate the water supply of the vineyard’s root system.
Thanks to its spectacular location, Finca El Sacramento enjoys the ideal conditions for producing a fine wine – it is a great terroir which warrants our constant attention to detail. Situated on a promontory, it offers spectacular views of the surrounding landscape.
Our wine is the unique expression of the terroir’s magical harmony.